The Daily Audio Bible

¹⁴ And he passeth over through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and to Beth-Maachah, and to all the Berites, and they are assembled, and go in also after him,

¹⁵ and they go in and lay siege against him, in Abel of Beth-Maachah, and cast up a mount against the city, and it standeth in a trench, and all the people who are [are] with Joab are destroying, to cause the wall to fall.

¹⁶ And a wise woman calleth out of the city, `Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, and I speak unto thee.'

¹⁷ And he cometh near unto her, and the woman saith, `Art thou Joab?' and he saith, `I [am].' And she saith to him, `Hear the words of thy handmaid;' and he saith, `I am hearing.'

¹⁸ and she speaketh, saying, `They spake often in former times, saying, Let them diligently ask at Abel, and so they finished.

¹⁹ I [am] of the peaceable -- faithful ones of Israel; thou art seeking to destroy a city, and a mother in Israel; why dost thou swallow up the inheritance of Jehovah?

²⁰ And Joab answereth and saith, `Far be it -- far be it from me; I do not swallow up nor destroy.

²¹ The matter [is] not so; for a man of the hill-country of Ephraim -- Sheba son of Bichri his name -- hath lifted up his hand against the king, against David; give ye up him by himself, and I go away from the city.' And the woman saith unto Joab, `Lo, his head is cast unto thee over the wall.'

²² And the woman cometh unto all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri, and cast [it] unto Joab, and he bloweth with a trumpet, and they are scattered from the city, each to his tents, and Joab hath turned back to Jerusalem unto the king.

²³ And Joab [is] over all the host of Israel, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada [is] over the Cherethite, and over the Pelethite,

²⁴ and Adoram [is] over the tribute, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud [is] the remembrancer,

²⁵ and Sheva [is] scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar [are] priests,

²⁶ and also, Ira the Jairite hath been minister to David.

21 And there is a famine in the days of David three years, year after year, and David seeketh the face of Jehovah, and Jehovah saith, `For Saul and for the bloody house, because that he put to death the Gibeonites.'

² And the king calleth for the Gibeonites, and saith unto them -- as to the Gibeonites, they [are] not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorite, and the sons of Israel had sworn to them, and Saul seeketh to smite them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah --

³ yea, David saith unto the Gibeonites, `What do I do for you? and with what do I make atonement? and bless ye the inheritance of Jehovah.'

⁴ And the Gibeonites say to him, `We have no silver and gold by Saul and by his house, and we have no man to put to death in Israel;' and he saith, `What ye are saying I do to you.'

⁵ And they say unto the king, `The man who consumed us, and who devised against us -- we have been destroyed from stationing ourselves in all the border of Israel --

⁶ let there be given to us seven men of his sons, and we have hanged them before Jehovah, in the height of Saul, the chosen of Jehovah.' And the king saith, `I do give;'

⁷ and the king hath pity on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, son of Saul, because of the oath of Jehovah that [is] between them, between David and Jonathan son of Saul;

⁸ and the king taketh the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Michal daughter of Saul whom she bare to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite,

⁹ and giveth them into the hand of the Gibeonites, and they hang them in the hill before Jehovah; and the seven fall together, and they have been put to death in the days of harvest, in the first [days], the commencement of barley-harvest.

¹⁰ And Rizpah daughter of Aiah taketh the sackcloth, and stretcheth it out for herself on the rock, from the commencement of harvest till water hath been poured out upon them from the heavens, and hath not suffered a fowl of the heavens to rest upon them by day, or the beast of the field by night.

¹¹ And it is declared to David that which Rizpah daughter of Aiah, concubine of Saul, hath done,

¹² and David goeth and taketh the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the possessors of Jabesh-Gilead, who had stolen them from the broad place of Beth-Shan, where the Philistines hanged them, in the day of the Philistines smiting Saul in Gilboa;

¹³ and he bringeth up thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, and they gather the bones of those hanged,

¹⁴ and bury the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin, in Zelah, in the burying-place of Kish his father, and do all that the king commanded, and God is entreated for the land afterwards.

¹⁵ And again have the Philistines war with Israel, and David goeth down, and his servants with him, and they fight with the Philistines; and David is weary,

¹⁶ and Ishbi-Benob, who [is] among the children of the giant -- the weight of his spear [is] three hundred [shekels] weight of brass, and he is girded with a new one -- speaketh of smiting David,

¹⁷ and Abishai son of Zeruiah giveth help to him, and smiteth the Philistine, and putteth him to death; then swear the men of David to him, saying, `Thou dost not go out again with us to battle, nor quench the lamp of Israel.'

¹⁸ And it cometh to pass afterwards, that the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines, then hath Sibbechai the Hushathite smitten Saph, who [is] among the children of the giant.

¹⁹ And the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim, the Beth-Lehemite, smiteth [a brother of] Goliath the Gittite, and the wood of his spear [is] like a beam of weavers.

²⁰ And the battle is again in Gath, and there is a man of stature, and the fingers of his hands [are] six, and the toes of his feet [are] six, twenty and four in number, and he also hath been born to the giant,

²¹ and he reproacheth Israel, and smite him doth Jonathan son of Shimeah, brother of David;

²² these four have been born to the giant in Gath, and they fall by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

1 The former account, indeed, I made concerning all things, O Theophilus, that Jesus began both to do and to teach,

² till the day in which, having given command, through the Holy Spirit, to the apostles whom he did choose out, he was taken up,

³ to whom also he did present himself alive after his suffering, in many certain proofs, through forty days being seen by them, and speaking the things concerning the reign of God.

⁴ And being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he,] `Ye did hear of me;

⁵ because John, indeed, baptized with water, and ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit -- after not many days.'

⁶ They, therefore, indeed, having come together, were questioning him, saying, `Lord, dost thou at this time restore the reign to Israel?'

⁷ and he said unto them, `It is not yours to know times or seasons that the Father did appoint in His own authority;

⁸ but ye shall receive power at the coming of the Holy Spirit upon you, and ye shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and unto the end of the earth.'

⁹ And these things having said -- they beholding -- he was taken up, and a cloud did receive him up from their sight;

¹⁰ and as they were looking stedfastly to the heaven in his going on, then, lo, two men stood by them in white apparel,

¹¹ who also said, `Men, Galileans, why do ye stand gazing into the heaven? this Jesus who was received up from you into the heaven, shall so come in what manner ye saw him going on to the heaven.'

¹² Then did they return to Jerusalem from the mount that is called of Olives, that is near Jerusalem, a sabbath's journey;

¹³ and when they came in, they went up to the upper room, where were abiding both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James, of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zelotes, and Judas, of James;

¹⁴ these all were continuing with one accord in prayer and supplication, with women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

¹⁵ And in these days, Peter having risen up in the midst of the disciples, said, (the multitude also of the names at the same place was, as it were, an hundred and twenty,)

¹⁶ `Men, brethren, it behoved this Writing that it be fulfilled that beforehand the Holy Spirit spake through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who became guide to those who took Jesus,

¹⁷ because he was numbered among us, and did receive the share in this ministration,

¹⁸ this one, indeed, then, purchased a field out of the reward of unrighteousness, and falling headlong, burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed forth,

¹⁹ and it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem, insomuch that that place is called, in their proper dialect, Aceldama, that is, field of blood,

²⁰ for it hath been written in the book of Psalms: Let his lodging-place become desolate, and let no one be dwelling in it, and his oversight let another take.

²¹ `It behoveth, therefore, of the men who did go with us during all the time in which the Lord Jesus went in and went out among us,

²² beginning from the baptism of John, unto the day in which he was received up from us, one of these to become with us a witness of his rising again.'

²³ And they set two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias,

²⁴ and having prayed, they said, `Thou, Lord, who art knowing the heart of all, shew which one thou didst choose of these two

²⁵ to receive the share of this ministration and apostleship, from which Judas, by transgression, did fall, to go on to his proper place;'

²⁶ and they gave their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

121 A Song of the Ascents. I lift up mine eyes unto the hills, Whence doth my help come?

² My help [is] from Jehovah, maker of heaven and earth,

³ He suffereth not thy foot to be moved, Thy preserver slumbereth not.

⁴ Lo, He slumbereth not, nor sleepeth, He who is preserving Israel.

⁵ Jehovah [is] thy preserver, Jehovah [is] thy shade on thy right hand,

⁶ By day the sun doth not smite thee, Nor the moon by night.

⁷ Jehovah preserveth thee from all evil, He doth preserve thy soul.

⁸ Jehovah preserveth thy going out and thy coming in, From henceforth even unto the age!

¹⁸ Before destruction [is] pride, And before stumbling -- a haughty spirit.'